Lagoon 43 Review, the Successor to Lagoon's Best-Seller

Replacing a 1,100 boat best-seller

Anyone shopping for a Lagoon catamaran for sale in the mid-40 foot range now has two generations to choose from. The Lagoon 42, launched in 2016, sold more than 1,100 hulls and became one of the most common cruising cats on earth. Its successor, the Lagoon 43, premiered at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2024 and made its US debut at the Annapolis Sailboat Show a month later, where SAIL reported long lines to get aboard.

Lagoon did not play it safe. The 43 keeps the brand's VPLP hull lineage and the gun-turret coachroof that has defined Lagoons since the 410 and 470, but it rearranges almost everything inside and on deck. SAIL counted 55 boats sold by October 2024 and Cruising World 70, with Lagoon aiming to build around 100 a year and expecting roughly half to go into charter fleets.

The design team is the established one: VPLP Design for the naval architecture, Patrick le Quément for the exterior and Nauta Design for the interior. Lagoon lists the European Yacht of the Year 2025 title among the boat's awards, and it was a finalist in Cruising World's 2025 Boat of the Year midsize multihull class, which the Seawind 1370 won.

A rig moved forward and a bigger square-top main

The most consequential change is structural. VPLP moved the mast forward, which pushes the compression post toward the saloon windows and clears it from the middle of the living area. The mast is about two feet shorter than the 42's, but the boom is longer, and the optional square-top mainsail is about 100 sq ft larger than its predecessor's. Lagoon quotes 1,130 sq ft upwind with a 646 sq ft high-roach main or 732 sq ft square top, a 398 sq ft furling genoa and an optional 785 sq ft code zero.

The self-tacking jib track of the 42 is gone, replaced by conventional genoa sheeting. That means more work when tacking, but better sail shape and more power on a reach. Lagoon offers in-boom furling, though SAIL's reviewer preferred a conventional stack pack for simplicity.

What the 43 did on the Chesapeake

SAIL tested the boat in 14 to 17 knots of breeze on flat water with the square-top main. It made 7.7 knots in 16 knots of true wind at 65 degrees apparent and held 6.3 knots when hardened up to 50 degrees. On a broad reach with only main and jib and no code zero, speed dropped to 5.1 knots, which shows how much a downwind sail matters on a 30,800 lb cat.

Cruising World sailed it in a lighter 10 to 12 knot northwesterly and made just under 7 knots closehauled and nearly 6 knots on a beam reach, with a light, responsive helm. Under power, the twin 57 hp Yanmars gave SAIL a 7.1 knot cruise at 2,200 rpm and 8.7 knots at 3,200 rpm. Fuel capacity nearly doubled over the 42, from about 79 to 151 gallons, which extends motoring range considerably.

A semi-flybridge helm on the port bulkhead

Instead of a full flybridge, the 43 has what Lagoon calls a semi-fly. The helm sits on a raised station on the port bulkhead, between the main deck and the roof, with a U-shaped settee and a sun bed beside it. The arrangement keeps weight lower than a full flybridge, protects the helmsman behind the bulkhead and still lets guests sit with the skipper. Cruising World's Mark Pillsbury called it a better arrangement for a shorthanded crew than a flybridge.

The downside is limited roof space for solar. SAIL found room for only four panels, about 640 watts, around the traveler. Buyers who want to anchor out without a generator should look at Lagoon's Silent Package, which bundles lithium batteries, bigger alternators, a large inverter and solar.

Side boarding doors, a transom bench and tables for twelve

Lagoon cut boarding doors into the aft sections of both hulls. They are not new in the catamaran world, but they make stepping aboard from a side-tie dock or a dinghy far easier than climbing over the transom, and judges at both magazines singled them out. Aft, a transom bench with twin hinged backrests faces either into the cockpit or out over the anchorage, and netting integrated into the davit frame creates a small aft trampoline once the tender is launched.

The cockpit and saloon tables can be combined in a dozen ways. With the three-panel glass door pushed into its pockets, the tables line up to seat twelve. Forward, the foredeck borrows the U-shaped lounge from the Lagoon 46 around the windlass, and a window between the galley and the forward cockpit opens to pass food and drinks.

The owner's bed goes forward

The interior's star is the owner's hull. Lagoon moved the bed to the forward end of the starboard hull, away from engine noise and the dock, with better air from an unobstructed hatch. That leaves the wide aft section for a large head with a big shower, a vanity and a separate toilet compartment, plus a desk amidships. Lagoon now also offers the bed aft for owners who prefer the conventional arrangement.

In the port hull the fore and aft cabins have the same size beds thanks to a pronounced chine, the two heads are identical with sinks that fold into the shower stalls, and a Pullman berth can drop down in the aft cabin. Lagoon lists five arrangements: three cabins, three plus Pullman, three with the aft owner's bed, four plus Pullman and four cabins. The galley sits in the forward port corner of the saloon with a 152 quart upright fridge, two refrigerator drawers, a four-burner stove and a standard UV water filter.

Buying new or nearly new, and the 42 question

Because production only started in 2024, the market today is mostly new boats and a handful of nearly new ones. In Europe, new 2026 hulls are listed from about 556,000 to 590,000 euros before taxes and options, and 2024 to 2025 boats ask about 585,000 to 790,000 euros. A typical US delivered boat with generator, air conditioning, electronics and solar should land somewhere around $720,000 to $950,000.

The obvious alternative is a late Lagoon 42, which is cheaper and has a proven track record and parts supply. Lagoon still lists a Lagoon 42 Millenium edition alongside the 43. Choose the 43 if the forward owner's bed, side doors, bigger tanks and a more open saloon matter to you; choose a late 42 if price and a huge comparison base matter more.

Plan on about $40,000 to $80,000 a year to keep a 43 in the US, driven by a 25 ft 3 in beam slip, insurance and systems maintenance.